Tomorrow is the Foster County Fair and boy are we excited! We bake for days leading up to this although I have gotten smarter in my old age of 44 and instead of baking nonstop, bake the cookies two weeks ahead and freeze, the quick breads one week ahead, and the day before, all yeast breads. It makes it a little easier to handle and not so stressful. Today we made the following breads for open class: whole wheat, white artisan, rye, shredded wheat (our favorite), sourdough french, spaghetti (it won first place at the state fair a few years back for us), and a tea ring in the shape of a heart. I love making that one! Right now at supper time all the bread is done but two; one is in the rising stage and the other in the final rising stage before baking. By 9 o’clock all will be bagged, tagged, and ready to go out the door by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. I will frost the tea ring and fancy rolls (peach filled-I will be marketing them in September) around 7 a.m. Before I go to bed the kitchen will be spotless, floor swept and mopped, and all pans put away. I hate going to bed with a dirty kitchen; I’m not neurotic about it, but it’s nice to wake up to a clean kitchen-it makes that first cup of coffee for the day so much more satisfying. Maybe it’s the Kahlua I put in it…oh well. My son bakes for 4-H and open class, too, so hopefully we both do well. tomorrow. The prizes are big but it’s nice to be rewarded for your hard work. Here’s the tea ring I’m showing for the fair. Wish us luck!

Our female cat is in heat, so last night when we were trying to eat supper with the windows open, we heard the whole dirty deed. The best part was the other male cat, Sherbert, sitting on the window ledge watching them and doing nothing. He needs a little pick me up in that department-maybe some Enzyte or whatever it’s called on TV. Needless to say, we had to close the window.